Just Don't Kiss Me
by Mxya
Summary: Princess AJ Damir needs to find a husband who will then be the next King. When down to some of the boys from Hogwarts, who will she choose?
1. Not The Full Name

"I'm really not looking forward to this." AJ grumbled, and then resumed her perfect posture.

"No worries." Paul said. She looked up at him. He saw the doubtful expression on her face and laughed. "Come on, you know you can do this." He smiled down at her. "Trust me; you have since you were born."

"Sixteen years isn't quite enough." She said, and looked back to the closed double doors in front of her. She sighed.

"Hey, don't worry. You look fabulous." Paul said. She looked back up and smiled at him.

"Thank you."

"I must say, it's a little weird seeing you like this, I'm used to tomboy AJ. Now you really look like a princess." Paul teased. AJ smiled and was once again insecure about her looks. For some reason she had let her mother, the queen, dress her up for her own 16th party that they were hosting. Paul, her best friend standing next to her pulled one of her long, blonde curls and then let go. It sprung back up quickly. There were hundreds of these blonde curls coming down to just past her shoulders. Her beautiful, long, red dress fit her perfectly as her parents had it tailored just for her. This being AJ's first party, she would be introduced to all of the eligible young men, having to dance with them. She would pick the one she liked best and he would be the one she was to marry.

"This is a really big thing." AJ said.

"Yeah. I'm just looking forward to our dance." Paul smiled.

"You're lucky my parent's see you as eligible."

"Hey, my father's a Duke." Paul said.

"Yeah yeah." AJ waved her hand at him and turned the other way. The announcer spoke and AJ stood back from the door.

"The princess' best friend Paul Garrett Sage." The doors opened and Paul mumbled.

"I hate my middle name." As he put on a large smile and took a step forward into the grand ball room of the palace. The doors closed quickly behind him as AJ laughed at his comment. Standing there, the next one to enter the great hall, AJ breathed in and out slowly many times. She readied the smile she had been working on late the previous night.

"Her royal highness princess Anastasia Jacqueline Damir." The announcer proclaimed to all in the ball room.

"Not my full name no!" AJ said and her spine bent in a pout. The doors opened and suddenly she was faced with all eyes on her. She straightened up again and smiled her smile. Slowly, she made her way down the stairs to the ball room floor.

"Anastasia dear, you do look beautiful this evening." Her lady in waiting said for about the tenth time. AJ forced a smile. She hated her full name.

"Thank you Marie." She said. Marie had met AJ at the bottom of the long, curved staircase. AJ stepped off the satin carpet and onto the marble floor. She was still a little uncertain on her feet even with the many practises wearing the high heels. The conductor of the orchestra was turned around and watched her step onto the dance floor. At the very moment that her foot touched the marble, flowing, happy music started playing, as it did the entire night. AJ tilted her head so she could whisper into Marie's ear. The smile still plastered on her face as she continued to look out at the three rows of 'eligible' young men, all staring at her wide-eyed and hopeful. Behind them were all of the young ladies, hoping that their dates wouldn't be picked.

"Don't forget to tell me which ones are muggles and which ones are magic." AJ whispered into Marie's ear. Marie had organised all of the dancing and all of the young men. She nodded and stepped back to let AJ through. Suddenly the music stopped and everybody looked over to the orchestra, wondering why there was a sudden silence. The announcer then spoke up and everyone's curiosity was satisfied.

"Presenting their royal highnesses, Queen Pricilla May Damir and King Robert Alexander Damir." The double doors once again flew open and AJ saw her mother and father walk into the grand ballroom. Her mother went right, following the same path that AJ had taken. While her father went left down the symmetrical curved flight of stairs. Looking up, AJ watched her mother as she practically floated down the stairs. As she came around to meed her husband, all of the heads bowed in respect. Mum had to go through this to. AJ thought. For the past five generations, the Damir family had had only daughters. The men they had married took on the royal last name as was usually done. The King and Queen met perfectly in the middle and linked arms. Her father led his Queen up the satin carpet to their thrones which were nestled neatly in between the flights of stairs. AJ smiled, but she was extremely nervous at the thought of one day, that would be her. AJ sighed as the music began to play again.

"It's alright Anastasia." Marie whispered behind her. AJ clenched her jaw.

"How many times have I told you not to call me by my full name?" AJ whispered without turning around, she continued to smile at the many guys that were once again looking at her.

"I'm sorry ma'am" Marie said. AJ shook her head as she let out her breath. Marie would never get it right. "Would you like to start the dances now miss?" She asked. AJ rolled her eyes at Marie's lame continued attempt at not saying her name. Despite this, she nodded. The sooner it was over, the better. "Muggle." Marie whispered as they walked up to the first one. "Francis Duker." He smiled and bowed his head. She curtsied. He led her onto the floor and AJ had her first dance. They were silent the whole time. Francis looked up into her eyes and she had the same smile plastered on her face the whole time. When their dance was finally over he went back to find his date after not seeing any signs that he would be the future King. His date was overjoyed and they danced together. "Wizard." Marie whispered as AJ walked up to the next one. "A pure blood like you." AJ arrived in front of him. She looked up and was scared whitless. "Marcus Flint." He bowed slightly and she curtsied again. Once they started dancing, AJ decided to say something.

"Marcus." She started

"Flint, call me Flint." He smirked.

"Sorry... Flint" AJ said, then continued. "You wouldn't happen to know a spell to get me out of this ball would you?"

"Anastasia, a witch." Flint said.

"Call me AJ." She said firmly. "Yes, I'm a pure-blood." Flint nodded in thought.

"But I'm only your second dance." He said.

"Only the second?" AJ mumbled. Flint laughed as he spun AJ around and brought her back into him. The dance ended soon. "I'll see you later." AJ said. She didn't like his looks but she liked his personality. Flint smirked, happy that she enjoyed their dance. The dances went on. Muggle after muggle. AJ liked none of them. Eventually, there was another pure-blood wizard.

"Blaise Zabini" Marie said.

"You don't want me to call you by your last name do you?" AJ asked.

"What?" Blaise was confused. "No, not like Flint. Just call me Blaise." AJ nodded her head as she danced. "And what may I call you your highness?" Blaises' flattery was making AJ blush slightly.  
"Call me AJ." Blaise smirked and nodded. She recognised his smirk to be similar as the one on Flint's face before. "Do you go to the same school as Flint?" AJ asked.

"Yes." He replied. Blaise was wondering why she brought him up. Was it because she liked him? He thought.

"Which school is that?" AJ asked.

"Hogwarts." Blaise replied.

"I've heard about it." AJ said. "Harry Potter goes to that school right?"

"Yeah." Blaise said and rolled his eyes. She's probably another 'oh my gosh it's Harry Potter' girl, typical. He thought. "He's here tonight. You'll probably dance with him later." AJ let out a short 'hmm' as she pondered. Their dance finished and Marie came up to her again.

"You're half way through the dances your highness."

"Thank you Marie." AJ said and Marie nodded. "Will I be dancing with Harry Potter tonight?" She asked.

"Yes." Marie said. "He's not in the nobility, but his reputation makes him eligible." AJ seemed to be thinking.

"Are there any other guys from Hogwarts?"

"Yes, there's one other it's..." AJ wouldn't let her finish.

"Good." AJ said. "Save them for last."

"Yes ma'am." Marie said.

"Can I dance with Paul next?"

"Sure thing miss." Marie said and AJ walked up to Paul, curtsying after he bowed.

"Good evening your highness." Paul said as they begun to dance.

"Stop it Paul. You'll always be my best friend." Paul seemed to relax a little and AJ giggled. "I'm halfway through." AJ said.

"Congratulations AJ!" Paul exclaimed. AJ smiled. "Any guys you particularly like so far?"

"I like the Hogwarts guys." AJ said.

"They're interesting." Paul said. "There's the purebloods, and then there's Potter."

"So the third one is a pureblood as well?" AJ asked.

"Well, yes." AJ smiled. She liked those boys. Their dance ended and AJ was back to dancing with muggles. It seemed to go on for hours. There was the occasional half-blood and muggle born wizard, but none of them seemed to be as good as the Hogwarts guys.

"It's just the Hogwarts gentlemen left my lady." Marie said. "Would you like to dance with Harry Potter now? Or save him for last?"

"I'll dance with him now. Thank you Maire." AJ said politely.

"Yes miss. By the way, you're doing a marvellous job tonight." AJ smiled over at her. She placed a hand on Marie's shoulder.

"Only two more." She said with a spark of hope in her eyes. Marie laughed.

"Yes, two more. Then you will have to choose one." AJ's mouth immediately came out of a smile as she though of how hard the decision would be. "You can do it." Marie said as she led AJ up to Harry and introduced them.

"Princess Anastasia." Harry said as he bowed. AJ clenched her teeth.

"Not- the full name." AJ started out harsh and then she smiled as she curtsied. "Please, call me AJ." She said in her politest voice. The two quickly began to dance. Harry led AJ perfectly all over the dance floor. They were silent, but AJ just loved him. By the time their dance was done, AJ was so tired. She was happy that there was only one dance left. She politely said goodnight to the famous Harry Potter and smiled over at Maire. Marie figured the last gentleman could introduce himself. She gestured for AJ to walk over to him by herself. After each dance, the rejected gentleman would then go off to dance with his date. AJ only saw one gentleman standing, waiting. She walked up to him, looking around to make sure that she didn't interrupt and collide with a dancing couple. When she reached him, she looked up at his smirking face. Her heart skipped a beat, then another, then another. AJ took a breath to make sure she was still alive. Her heart came back quickly as AJ continued to stare at whom she would have to share her last dance with. She couldn't believe she was so lucky. She was standing in front of the most gorgeous-looking young gentleman she had ever seen. The young man bowed slightly as he introduced himself.

"Draco Malfoy." He said and held out a hand for her to take.


	2. All Four Of Them?

AJ almost didn't know what to say. She hung on his words as she stared into his eyes.

"I'm Anast-" AJ started. "Call me AJ." She smiled. The two danced around the room perfectly. For the first time in her life, AJ felt like she was floating as she had often seen her mother feeling. "Do you enjoy Hogwarts?" She asked Draco.

"It's alright." He replied.

"I wish I could go there." AJ complained.

"Where do you go?" Draco asked.

"My best friend Paul and I get private tutors here in the palace. I'd never be able to go to school."

"What do you learn here?"

"Basically the same things you do probably. Spells, charms, transfigurations, astronomy, herbology, care of magical creatures. Stuff like that. With the added 'How to run a country' for me." Draco laughed. Then it hit him.

"You're a witch?" He asked.

"Yes, of pure blood." She said proudly. Draco smiled. If he married her now it would be so much easier.

"Who have you chosen?" Marie asked when all of the dancing was done. After their dance, Draco walked over to his date that was waiting impatiently against the wall by herself.

"Draccie. Did she pick you?" She whined.

"I don't know." He said as he begun to dance with her. He was very distracted, repeatedly looking over his shoulder towards AJ, to see if she had made her decision. He hoped it was him. Otherwise, he would have to sit through a lot of yelling from his father, and lord Voldemort.

"It's so hard." AJ said as she looked around at the young men dancing.

"You have to make a decision tonight." Marie said.

"Oh must I?" She turned around to face her lady in waiting.

"Yes, you must." Marie said, as if there was absolutely no other option. "Who can't you choose out of?" She asked to try and narrow her choice down.

"The ones from Hogwarts." AJ said quickly.

"All four of them?"

"Yes." AJ answered.

"So you can't choose between Masters Flint, Zabini, Potter and Malfoy." AJ nodded. "May I suggest another dance with each?"

"No more dances tonight. I'm too tired." AJ said.

"Then what would you like to do?" Marie asked.

"Would it be possible," AJ said as she thought. "To invite them all to a dinner tomorrow night, then I will choose."

"That would have to be agreed to by your parents."

"Do I have to go up to them?" AJ asked. Marie just nodded and AJ sighed. Slowly she made her way towards the red carpet leading to her parent's thrones. Every guy in the room ceased to dance as they watched her walk up to the King and Queen. Everyone thought that she had made her decision. Jess slowly made her way up to her parents. She took a knee on the step in front of them as she had been taught to do. Bowing her head, her blonde curls fell in front of her face as she waited for her father to say something before raising it.

"Anastasia. Whom have you chosen?" Her Father, King Robert asked. AJ lifted her head and her curls fell back into their proper places.

"I would like to host a dinner to finalise my decision." AJ said.

"You can not decide dear?" The Queen asked.

"No mother, I cannot." AJ said. The Queen nodded as she thought.

"You may have a dinner." She said and AJ smiled. "Who do you like Anastasia dear?"

"The Hogwarts gentlemen mother." AJ said. The King and Queen nodded. AJ slowly got up off the step, turned around and made her way back to Marie. The smile on her face told Marie that her parents had agreed.

"Shall we be having a dinner then Ma'am?" Marie asked. AJ nodded and continued to smile. She looked around at the dancing couples; each guy wasn't paying much attention to his date as he was looking at the princess at every possible moment as they danced around the floor. AJ made sure she locked eyes with each one of the Hogwarts guys. After locking eyes with the beautiful princess, each guy blushed and looked at his date, they each thought it was them. The three purebloods smirked on top of this.

"Sir Draco Malfoy." The announcer began. The gentlemen and their dates had stopped dancing as soon as they heard the first word escape the announcer's lips. "Sir Marcus Flint; Sir Blaise Zabini and Sir Harry Potter." The gentlemen looked confused but they were happy to be picked. They all walked up to the princess and the rest of the room continued to dance.

"I would like to invite you gentlemen to a dinner I will be hosting." AJ said. "It will be tomorrow night." The gents nodded. "May I meet your dates?" They turned around and motioned for the ladies to come over.

"Pansy." The black haired one that was with Draco gave AJ a slight curtsy.

"Ginny." Was the one with Harry.

"Millicent" The one with Flint.

"Maddie." The one with Blaise. The nine of you talked for a while until the ball was over.

*

"Paul get back here." AJ yelled as she chased after her best friend. Her long blonde curls from the night before had disappeared, the usual dead straight hair had returned. Her long beautiful dress was replaced with her usual tom boy outfit, jeans and a T-shirt.

"Oh Anastasia dear, changed back so soon?" Her mother said. AJ stopped running. Her mother never liked her to run in the palace.

"Yes mother." AJ said and her mother shook her head. Quickly she went around the corner and AJ once again begun to chase her best friend. She was stopped suddenly by someone standing right in her way.

"Anastasia, dear, you must be getting ready for the dinner tonight." Marie said and AJ sighed.  
"Ok Paul you win." She said as she was led to prepare for the dinner.


	3. The Future King

"Ahh, am I looking at the future King?" Lucius asked as Draco walked in the door.

"I don't know." Draco said.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Lucius asked, his voice rose.

"You mean you're not?" Voldemort asked, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

"I don't know." Draco said again.

"Potter's not it is he?" Voldemort asked, his voice raised as well. Lucius stood up off the couch.

"I don't know!" Draco said for the third time.

"There's not a muggle King is there?" Voldemort asked. There was a silence as Draco looked at Voldemort with his 'I don't know' face.

"Shut up Lucius and let the boy explain why he doesn't know." Voldemort said. Lucius rolled his eyes in confusion.

"We were all invited to a dinner tomorrow night." Draco explained.

"All of the men?" Lucius asked.

"No, just some of them."

"Is Potter one of them?" Voldemort interrupted.

"Yes." Draco said and looked at the floor. "But it's Flint, Blaise, myself and him. I think I have a pretty good chance."

"You'd better get it." Lucius said.

"Yes Father." Draco said and went off to bed.

*

"Potter." Draco said as he walked into the grand dining room in the castle. Harry was sitting on one side of the long rectangular table, closest to the opposite end. There were four seats on his side and only one on the other, in the middle. Draco took his seat at the farthest chair from Harry. Blaise and Flint walked in soon afterwards. After a bit of fighting, Blaise ended up seated next to Harry.  
After a few minuets, the announcer stepped inside the door and to the side.

"Announcing her royal highness Princess Anastasia Jacqueline Damir." The four gentlemen rose from their seats as AJ walked into the room. She looked even move beautiful than she had the previous night. As she took her seat opposite them, they sat back down.

The food came promptly in and they begun to eat in silence. AJ really didn't know what to say, she just sat there in silence eating her food, watching the gentlemen slowly eat as well. They were all extremely nervous, not knowing if they would be the future King. By the end of the meal, AJ still hadn't decided.

"Your highness, whom have you chosen?" Blaise asked, finally. AJ took a deep breath and mentally pulled a name out of a hat.

"Master Potter." She said strongly, amazed at herself that she had just randomly chosen the future King. The other gentlemen tried to suppress their surprise, and anger. Harry was thrilled. AJ was a bit surprised herself at her decision. The gentlemen quickly regained their composure and bowed. Harry bowed with a smile plastered from ear to ear, while the others bowed with a smirk.

Harry slowly walked up to AJ and got down on one knee. The others, especially Draco, looked away, unable to comprehend why Potter was the new King. AJ held out her hand for Harry to kiss, which he did. He stood up next to her and smiled goofily at the others who bowed their heads before quickly leaving the room. AJ smiled her smile as she was left alone in the room with Harry Potter.

"Just don't kiss me." She whispered to him. Harry seemed to be shocked into a coma. AJ rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand.

"Yeah, okay." He said, opening his eyes wider. They together stepped forward and left the room.

"Mother, this is Master Harry Potter." AJ introduced him to the Queen.

"Your Majesty." He said, bowing extremely low.

"Master Potter. Welcome." The Queen said. "Now, there are some things that must be done. What year are you in at Hogwarts?"

"Sixth year ma'am." He said.

"Good. Same year as Anastasia." AJ rolled her eyes at the use of her full name which Harry saw, but he didn't dare to say anything.

"You must live in the palace from now on." The Queen went on. "You will have private tutors same as Anastasia." Harry gulped as he took in his new life.

*

"Who's that from?" AJ asked Paul.

"My parents." He replied as he put the letter down.

"Your parents." AJ repeated.

"Yeah, they say that I have to go to school."

"Go to school?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, they say I can come back and stay at the palace during the summer. But school starts next week and they want me going."

"Where are they sending you?" AJ asked, completely devastated that her best friend was leaving her.

"They said I could choose. But I have no idea where I would go."

"Go to Hogwarts." AJ said.

"Okay." Paul decided. He embraced his best friend and held back the tears. AJ also held back the tears as she pulled away.

"Paul, you'll always be my best friend." AJ said.

"And you'll always be mine." Paul replied.

"Am I interrupting something here?" Harry suddenly appeared at the door.

"No, no, you're not." AJ said.

"Good. Gosh, you could get lost in this place." AJ and Paul giggled. "What's up?" Harry put his hands in his pockets.

"I was just saying goodbye to Paul. He's going to Hogwarts this year." AJ explained.

"Oh, well, Paul I hope you have fun there." Harry held out his hand for Paul to shake. "I do caution you about the others that came to the dinner, they might get nasty." He warned as Paul shook his hand.

"Thanks." Paul said when the handshake was finished.


	4. A Happy Rejection

"Paul Sage." Professor McGonagall announced. There was no doubt that it was him, he was the last one to be sorted. He made his way up to the stool and sat on it, allowing the sorting hat to be placed on his head. The table of people with blue on their uniforms rejoiced as it was announced that Paul was in Ravenclaw.

"I'm Austin." The boy Paul sat next to introduced himself.

"Paul." He replied.

"Hey, do you know Ron or Hermione?" Paul asked as they left the great hall.

"Sure." Austin said and pointed. "The girl with the thick, wavy brown hair is Hermione. The red-head next to her is Ron. Harry Potter is usually with them." Paul saw them.

"They're in Gryffindor." He said with a slight pause before he voiced his opinion. "They look like a couple."

"They should be." Austin said before they parted company. Austin leaned against the wall and waited while Paul walked up to Hermione and Ron.

"Hi. My name's Paul." He introduced himself.

"I'm Hermione, this is Ron." She replied, the shock and surprise of his randomness on both of their faces.

"I know Harry." Paul explained.

"Really?" Hermione asked.

"Where is he? Voldemort didn't kill him did he" Ron asked.

"No, he's not dead, he's the future King." Paul looked at Hermione and stopped. He stared into her eyes.

"Harry's the future King??!!" Hermione and Ron exclaimed at once. Paul blinked.

"Yeah. AJ chose him." He replied.

"Who's AJ?" Ron asked.

"The princess... She's my best friend."

"You are best friends with the princess?" Hermione asked. Paul blinked again. He loved the sound of her voice.

"Yes indeed. This is Paul Garrett Sage." Paul went red with anger at the sound of his middle name. He turned around to see Draco walking up with Blaise and Flint.

"Get out of here Malfoy. Nobody wants you." Hermione said. She and Ron went into attack mode.

"I could say otherwise, and so could all the girls in this school." Draco argued.

"Not me." Hermione said simply.

"You'll warm up to me." Draco raised his eyebrows and smirked.

"My new friends." Paul started as he turned back around to Hermione and Ron. They looked at him with great interest. "I see it fit to tell you at this moment that these gentlemen were among those rejected at the ball. I see, with this Malfoy's arrogance and pride in always getting the girl that I should tell you, he was rejected."

"Shut up Sage. You are not making this a good first day for yourself." Draco cut in.

"You'll warm up to me." Paul said and walked back over to Austin who was waiting for him. Hermione and Ron burst out laughing.

"The great Draco Malfoy was rejected? By princess AJ?" Hermione laughed at a glaring Malfoy.  
"Yeah, and if it gets around anymore than it already has, then I'll turn you both into something very unpleasant." Draco warned. Hermione and Ron stepped back with mock-scared expressions on their faces before walking off towards the Gryffindor common room.

"Don't tell anyone." Hermione turned to Ron once they were in the common room.

"Why not?" Ron asked, surprised. "It's the perfect thing to make his reputation go down the tubes!"

"Just don't yet okay? We'll wait for the most perfect moment to pull the plug, agreed?" Hermione asked and held out her hand for Ron to shake.

"Agreed." He said, shaking it before they parted, Ron to his dorm. However, Hermione stayed in the common room.

Draco sighed as he watched Hermione leave. He turned around to see where Paul had gone a few minuets before. Unfortunately, he wasn't there now and Draco thought that he was probably already in the Ravenclaw common room so it was too late.

"Was that a sigh before" Blaise asked.

"What? When?" Draco was caught red-handed.

"When they left, you watched them leave with a sigh didn't you?" Flint said.

"That wasn't a sigh alright, that was a growl." Draco attempted.

"Right, I see." Flint said sarcastically.

"Draco, you can't like her, she's our enemy." Blaise said.

"I don't like her. I hate her. She is the most annoying, know-it-all Gryffindor ever. Except for Potter."

"Ahh, but Potter is now the future King. He doesn't come here any more." Blaise pointed out.

"That makes him even more of a jerk." Draco said. "You guys go on down to the common room. I need some air." He said.

"Okay." Flint and Blaise said before they left to go down to the Slytherin common room. Draco walked the halls, went outside and down to the lake.

"Thanks for waiting." He said as he sat down beside the hooded girl watching the lake.

"You were taking a while, I was going to leave." She replied.

"I'm glad you didn't leave Hermione." He said as he leaned in to kiss her. She closed her eyes along with him and kissed him back.

"Are you glad I was rejected?" Draco mumbled.

"Yes!" Hermione exclaimed as they continued kissing.

*

"You can share my dorm." Austin said as they entered it.

"Thank you." Paul replied. He went over to look out the dorm window. Outside he could see the lake. He looked around the banks of the lake and saw Draco Malfoy making out with someone. Unfortunately, the girl had a hood over her head so he couldn't quite see who she was. Not that Paul would know who she was if he could see her.

"So he does always get the girl?" Paul asked, still staring at them out the window. Austin had to come over and look out as well to see what Paul was talking about.

"Yeah, he's never been rejected. Except by the princess, that's funny." Austin replied and laughed. Paul laughed with him.

"Oh, I need to write her." Paul said, grabbing a quill and some paper from the top of his suitcase. He began to write:

To my princess AJ,  
I miss you so much already. Growing up together we have practically seen each other 24/7. Now, being away at school, it is a big change. I am in the Ravenclaw house. I made a friend named Austin who I am sharing a dorm with. I met Hermione and Ron, Harry's friends. They were worried that Voldemort had killed him. But I reassured them by telling the truth. Oh, and I saw the other three. They came up when I was talking to Hermione and Ron. Apparently Draco has never been rejected by a girl before, so I burst his bubble by telling H + R. He practically threatened death. But it's all good now. He's down at the lake at the moment, making out with some random chick. I had better go, it's getting late. Write back!  
Paul Sage.

Paul quickly sent the letter off with his owl before getting ready for bed.

"It's from Paul!" AJ exclaimed. Her and Harry were walking the halls of the palace together, talking. AJ proceeded to read it out loud.

"He's in Ravenclaw!" Harry exclaimed after AJ read that part. "That's good. He won't be picked on as much by the Slytherins." He explained and AJ continued reading. Harry laughed when AJ read that Hermione and Ron feared he was dead. "Yes! That's the perfect thing to make his reputation go down the tubes!" Harry thought about Draco's rejection.

"I have to write back!" AJ exclaimed when she finished reading. Suddenly, Marie appeared with a quill, some paper and something hard to write on.

"Here you go miss." She said before leaving.

"Thank you Marie." AJ said and begun writing.

To my best friend Paul,  
I miss you more! It all sounds so exciting, to go to school and learn with heaps of other people instead of having private tutors.

"Would you like to say anything?" AJ turned to Harry.

"Yeah, could I say hi to Hermione and Ron. Oh, and Ginny. She's Ron's sister." Harry said.

"Okay." AJ replied and continued writing.

Harry says hi to Hermione, Ron and Ginny. Apparantly she's Ron's sister. I hope you are able to use my rejection of Draco in some form of blackmail, as he sounds like he deserves it. We had better get to bed as well. Write back later.  
AJ Damir.

Quickly, AJ put it in an envelope, sealed it and sent it off.

"We should be getting to bed now." AJ suggested.

"Yeah." Harry replied. "Good night my future Queen." He said as he bowed low.

"Good night my future King." AJ replied as she smiled and curtsied before they parted company for the night.

Paul woke suddenly to a scratching noise on the glass of the window. He opened his eyes. And reached up to open it. His owl flew in, dropped the letter on the spare bed and flew out again.

Paul closed the window again. He had chosen the bed that was closest to the window and now was glad that he had. However, he still had to get up and get the letter that was dropped on the other side of the room.

Slowly, he uncovered himself and made his way over to it. Picking it up, he read it and placed it back down on the bed. He kludged back over to his bed and lay back down. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out, back to being sound asleep.


	5. Harry Says Hi

"Hi Hermione." Paul said. He was standing above her at breakfast the next day.

"Hey Paul." She looked up at him. "Would you like to sit down?" she asked as she moved over.

"Sure." He said as he cleared his throat and sat next to her. "What's up?" He asked.

"Not much, I had a good sleep last night."

"Yeah?" Paul asked. "Me too." Paul had actually dreamed about Hermione. That morning he had made up his mind to ask her out. That was what he was attempting to do at breakfast.

"You getting used to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.

"It's very different." Paul looked around the great hall. "But I think I'll manage alright."

"That's good." Hermione replied before there was a silence between them.

"Will you... go out with me?" Paul asked. Hermione looked at him questioningly, but she saw that he really was quite hansom, definitely not as hot as Draco, but he was good-looking.

"Sure." She said, a bit surprised herself. Paul smiled at her and she smiled back. He leaned in for their first kiss together. It was a quick one, before he got up and walked towards the Ravenclaw table. Hermione got up and walked after him, remembering that she had to tell him something.

"Paul." She said, stopping him by placing a hand on his arm and turning him around.

"Yes?" He asked.

"We're not telling anyone what happened to Malfoy in the summer." She said in hushed tones.

"Okay." Paul said, remembering what happened, and then the letter he got in the middle of the night.

"Oh, Harry says hi." He said. Paul turned to where Hermione was sitting before. "Where's Ron?" He asked.

"I don't know actually." At that moment, the doors to the great hall were opened and Ron came walking in.

"Perfect." Hermione and Paul said together. Ron walked up to them.

"Morning guys." Ron said.

"Morning Ron." Hermione and Paul said together again.

"Harry says hi." Paul told Ron. Ron nodded his response. "Oh... and Ginny?" Ron and Hermione looked back over at the Gryffindor table before leading Paul up to Ginny.

"Ginny." Ron said.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Harry says hi." Paul finished and Ginny blushed. Everyone around that saw and knew that Harry and Ginny had become pretty serious in their dating relationship smiled.

"I'm going to go eat breakfast now." Paul said.

"Okay." The majority of them said. Before he walked away, Paul gave Hermione another short kiss, as he had enjoyed their first one.

Draco looked across from the Slytherin table and saw Hermione with Ron and Paul standing above Ginny at the Gryffindor table. He saw Paul kiss Hermione and then walk away. His eyes stayed on Hermione and he couldn't believe it.

"I told you that you like her" Blaise said. "Don't think that if you keep it in that your reputation would stay how it is."

"And I told you that I hate her. Blaise, if you keep accusing me of liking Hermione Granger." He said her name in a spiteful way, but inside his heart was melting.

*sigh*

"Then, I'll have to assume that you like her." Blaise's eyes widened as he watched Draco get up from the table and leave the great hall.


	6. Granger

Hermione sat alone at the lake. Draco was late. But he had been many times before, so it was alright. She sat silently, letting the cool breeze wash over her as she listened to the sounds of the lake. She laid back and closed her eyes. Before long she was sound asleep.

Startled, Hermione sat up. She saw her owl standing next to her and a letter along with it. The sky was dark and she could tell it was late. Reaching for the letter, she opened it and begun to read.

Hermione,  
You're with Sage now? What happened to us?  
Draco.

Hermione got up and went towards the doors to the Hogwarts castle. She heaved a sigh of relief when she found out that the door was still unlocked, it mustn't have been too late. She made her way slowly and quietly down to the dungeons.

Hermione heard a snicker as she stood looking at the hidden door to the Slytherin common room. It startled her and she looked intently into the shadows where the sound had come from. Draco immerged with a smirk on his face.

"You're so predictable." Draco said, coming up to a step away from her. Hermione was confused.

"What? What do you mean?" She asked.

"I knew you would come down here." He explained.

"Yeah, what's with the letter?" Hermione used her hand with the letter in it for emphasis.

"You're with Sage." Draco's smirk dropped.

"What does that matter to you?" She asked. Draco thought for a second and his smirk returned.

"Absolutely nothing." He said.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah." He said; taking the last step that was between them. Hermione tried to create the space between them once more, but Draco took it again and soon Hermione was backed up against the wall. He smirked and she felt like sinking into a puddle onto the floor. It would have been the only way to escape; he was so close that she was breathing in his carbon dioxide.

His smirk grew even wider than she thought it could go. He raised an eyebrow and his lips went into hers. He closed his eyes, but she didn't, and he could tell. He bent his knees to go more to her height, but nothing. She stood there waiting for him to be done. Fortunately, it wasn't that long. He pulled out but didn't step back.

"What's your problem?" He said. She sighed and looked down.

"I don't know." She looked up into his eyes and he studied hers. Hermione tried to get out, but Draco put his hand on the wall, trapping her in. On the other side was the corner.

"Draco, stop." She put her forehead into his chest and she looked at the floor. She made a short sniffling noise. The tears were about to come.

"Hey." He brought his other hand and lifted her chin. "You called me Draco, so why are you being like this?" He asked as he forced her to look back into his eyes.

"Malfoy." She said sternly, correcting her mistake and fixing her gaze hard and strong into his eyes. She swallowed and completely pushed her sadness away. She didn't show any of it, only her anger. Draco smirked again and saw that this was a great opportunity. He brought both arms around, behind her lower back and started pushing her up and towards him as he leaned in even closer. His head went down and he begun to kiss her neck.

Hermione couldn't help it. She closed her eyes and made her neck limp, moving it around to his kisses. Then his tongue came out. His licks were only small, but Hermione was still there, her body against his body, completely surrendering to it.

The door to the Slytherin common room opened and Tom, an 8th year, stepped out.

"Draco, would you like to come inside and have at it with her? All of your friends are in there; they would love to see who your new girlfriend is." He said. As soon as they heard a noise, Draco had stopped and let Hermione go. She ran around the corner, but he could tell she was waiting just on the other side of the wall. So could Tom. Draco turned around and he was now up against the wall. Thankfully Tom was well away from him. They could both hear the cheers from Draco's friends for him to show them the new girl.

"What are you doing with Granger?" Tom whispered.

"That wasn't Granger." Draco whispered back. He was trying so hard to keep his reputation up.

"Yeah right man. I know it was her." Tom was thankfully being kind to Draco and was still whispering.

Hermione leant against the wall and she cried, wishing like crazy that she had brought Harry's invisibility cloak. She tried her best not to make a sound, but her sobs kept on coming with the tears.

Two of Tom's friends came out and stood next to him. Draco tried to take another step backwards, but he realised that the wall was there. Tom whispered something to his friends and they quietly headed for the corner that Hermione was hiding around. Draco opened his mouth to yell for Hermione to run, but he found Tom's wand was almost shoved down his throat.

The boys were so quiet, they grabbed Hermione and she screamed, noticing them for the first time. A lot of struggle came but they dragged her back around to Draco. She was thrown against the wall next to Draco. She was about to collapse in tears, her sobs were much louder now. The three 8th year boys stood there with their wands pointing to Draco and Hermione.

"Hold her hand and get in the common room together." Tom said.

"No." Draco said. "Why should I do that?"

"Because we'll hex you if you don't."

"Go ahead, hex me."

"We'll hex her." Tom said. Draco's expression changed in the slightest. Slowly he made his fingers find hers.

"Can we have an introduction please Katie?" Tom said to his girlfriend who was just inside the door.

"Sure." She nodded and turned around, getting the attention of all who were in the common room. "Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the great Draco Malfoy and his new girlfriend." She exclaimed.  
Draco took a step, then another one. His hand was squeezing Hermione's hand and she was doing the same.

"I'm ruined." He said to Tom as he passed. Tom nodded and smirked.

"Finally." He said. Draco walked into the common room and Hermione was right behind him.


	7. Who's Staying At The Palace

Paul would not talk to her. He was so confused. Had she cheated on him, or Malfoy? And what's the big deal about the Gryffindor's and Slytherin's? Is Ravenclaw a good house? Paul was lost. Ron hovered around Hermione day and night; it was what he could do to shield her from the comments. She was constantly crying. Draco wouldn't show his face. He stayed in his dorm all day, which caused more gossip. They had both asked their parents for a school transfer, but were rejected. It was a great way to spend 6th year.

But Paul was excited, it was almost vacation and he was going to be at the palace with just AJ and Harry. He was sitting eating dinner and the mail came. Amongst the other students, Hermione Ron and Paul all got letters. The other two read them and looked at Paul in unison. He looked back at Hermione and Ron and he was confused. He slowly opened his letter and begun to read.

Paul,  
Hey! Just to let you know, don't leave without Hermione, Ron or Draco okay? They're all spending the summer with us? Isn't that exciting? See you!  
AJ.

Paul looked over at the two and back down to his letter. He sighed in frustration at the thought that all of his problems were now following him to the palace.

"Why are you two coming?" Paul walked up to them after dinner.

"Harry invited us." Hermione replied in her usual tone. "We're his best friends."

"Right." Paul said then looked at the ground.

"It'll be fun, us five there all summer." Ron said.

"There will be six." Paul said.

"Well who else is coming?" Hermione asked. Paul wasn't sure if he should tell her.

"Malfoy." He eventually said. The people passing them snickered when they heard Malfoy's name. Once they passed, their snickers grew into mocking laughs. The three turned and saw Draco walking towards them. Hermione looked down to the ground and the tears came out. This was the first time she had seen him since that night.

"Sage, when are we leaving?" Malfoy came up and asked him. Oblivious to all of the jeering going on around him.

"Tomorrow morning." He replied. "Be packed and ready. Meet the limo out the front."

"Why are you coming?" Ron asked spitefully.

"My father requested it." Draco spat back. "I'll be there." Draco turned back towards the way he came and walked off, the jeering unending, but he chose not to pay attention to it.

"Let's go." Draco said as he joined the others at the limo. They had all been told to floo their luggage to the palace and that is just what they did. So one by one they climbed into the limo. Hermione went in first, followed by Ron. He was attempting to keep as much in between her and Draco as possible. Paul went next and Draco was the last in, closing the door behind him.

The limo was beautiful. It had a dark green interior which made Draco feel right at home. There was a plasma TV hanging from the ceiling and many other amazing attributes. The ride was pretty silent and Paul was wondering how they were going to last a whole summer together.


	8. The Palace

The limo finally pulled into the gates to the palace. Hermione's head was lying on Ron's shoulder and she was in a light sleep. Ron had his head back and was staring at the ceiling, thinking. Paul was looking out the window on the other side of Draco. The seat turned to the side after Paul and Draco was sitting, his right side facing the others, watching TV. When Draco saw them enter the gates, he turned the TV off. It had been on for the last hour or so, and he was the one in charge of the remote, so the program was "Spell casting". No one else was watching it.

When the TV clicked off, Ron brought his head up, wondering why. This movement woke Hermione and she mumbled, opening her eyes and raising her head.

"Yeah, we're there." Paul said, answering their unspoken question. Hermione sat up properly and prepared to enter the palace.

The limo pulled to a stop. Hermione and Ron took a deep breath in, Draco smirked and Paul had a worried expression on his face.

"Paul!!!" Princess AJ exclaimed from the large decorated porch.

"My Princess..." Paul bowed once he had exited the car behind Draco. AJ looked shocked that he had forgotten what she liked to be called. She blinked.

"Paul..." She started.

"Yes AJ?" He smiled and she smiled along with him. Hermione and Ron came out behind him and Harry smiled.

"Welcome!" AJ said as they walked into the palace. The foyer was large, and beautiful. There was a rounding staircase to the left and they took it. Up and up to the third floor, AJ finally led them down the hallway that seemed to go on forever. She opened the third door on the right to reveal Rons room. All of his stuff was set up and his bed was made.

"Ronald." AJ ushered.

"Ron, your majesty." He said plainly but respectfully.

"AJ, Ron." She replied just as plainly.

"AJ." He slightly bowed and they turned around and opened the door on the left.

"Paul, this is your old room." AJ said.

"Yes, thank you AJ." He said, and they moved on. The next door on the right was Hermione's and across the hall was Draco's. Everyone's stuff was set up by the servants before they got there. The next two rooms facing each other were AJ's and Harry's.

"There's a ball tomorrow night. Its the first one of the summer." AJ explained once everyone knew where their rooms were. "Your families have all been invited already. We usually have one or two balls each week." AJ looked up at the clock on the wall.

"Ahh, time to get dressed for dinner." She said. "Mum and Dad always have dinner together. I don't join them most of the time. Usually I eat dinner outside or in my room watching TV. But I promised them we'd all have dinner together tonight. So they can meet you guys." Hermione and Ron suddenly got nervous about meeting the King and Queen. "Meet me here in half an hour and I'll lead you to the dining room."

"Ok." The others said in unison as they dispersed into their separate rooms. Before Draco closed the door, he looked back at Hermione disappearing into her room and smirked.

"Ron!" Hermione knocked on his door. It was thirty-five minutes later and the rest were out in the hallway. AJ was wearing a beautiful long, blue strapless dress that fit her perfectly. Hermione was wearing a similar dress but it was red, and there were straps coming over her shoulders. She knocked on Ron's door again.

"Just a second." A mumble came from inside. Everyone had their hands on their hips waiting. Ten seconds later he opened the door and emerged, wearing a suit that was quite similar to that of Harry and Draco. AJ smiled.

"Does it really take that long for a guy to get changed?" AJ asked. Ron cleared his throat.

"Sorry." He said.

"That's alright." AJ replied and begun to lead them down the long hall, opposite to the way they had come. They passed many other closed doors. At the end of the hall, there was a winding flight of stairs that led down. They quickly descended, then turned right, down another long hallway. The walls surrounding one of the rooms in the hallway were of transparent glass.

"That's the pool." AJ explained as they passed it. They rounded the corner at the end of the hall and continued walking. The hall finally opened up to a large dining room. The King and Queen were already seated on each end of the long glass table placed in the middle of the room. They turned and smiled when they saw the teenagers enter.

"Mum, Dad, this is Hermione and Ron, they're Harry's friends." They both bowed when AJ said their names. "And Draco." AJ said. The King and Queen nodded and they all took their seats at the table.

The meal was rather silent, which defeated the purpose of having it together. All of the guests sat up straight, eating slowly and silently, trying not to offend. The dinner was soon over and the Queen looked over at AJ.

"Shall we have some dancing?" She asked.

"Sure." AJ replied, rather informally, which got the visitors confused. Music started playing and the King with his Queen led them all to the bare floor on the other side of the room. It was their dancing floor for small dinner parties, there was also the grand ballroom and a few other rooms just for dancing. Harry led AJ onto the floor, and hesitantly, Ron led Hermione. He was doing it more for the purpose of keeping Draco away from her.

Draco looked around at the empty table. He was the last one left. He blinked as it wasnt possible. The famous Draco Malfoy was without a dance. He tilted his head and looked over at the people dancing.

AJ looked back over and saw him sitting all alone. She looked back at Harry.

"Hey, can I dance with Draco?" She asked him. Harry looked over and saw Draco watching them.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because he doesn't have anyone to dance with." She replied.

"Yeah, then I won't have anyone to dance with." Harry made a point.

"Sorry." She said. "But who can he dance with then?"

"He could dance with a servant." Harry suggested. AJ looked at him, about to break into a laugh, but she decided that it suited him, so she rung for Mary, one of the better looking servants.

"Mary, Dance with Draco." She said, momentarily they had stopped dancing for her to tell the servant what to do.

"Yes miss." The servant said, hesitantly. She walked over to Draco who was still sitting at the, now cleared table. "I am to dance with you." She said. He looked at her and scrunched his nose in disgust.

"I don't feel like dancing." He said. Mary took a bow and went back to AJ, who stopped dancing a second time.

"He doesn't feel like dancing miss." She relayed the message.

"Tell him too bad, he should dance with you." AJ replied before beginning to dance again. Mary went back To Draco. He gave in and they danced, rather uncomfortably. The whole time, Draco was looking from Hermione to AJ. Every time they got close to Hermione, Ron would always spin her away. After a couple of minutes, Draco had enough. He let go of Mary and walked off to his room, slightly bowing at the royals as he passed.

Mary went back to her chores and the others danced on all evening.


	9. Hermione

Draco woke up and looked at the clock beside his bed. It was five past three. He smirked as he made his way out of bed and to the door. It was slightly chilly without a pyjama shirt on, just flannel pants and boxers underneath, but he couldn't be bothered to get anything else. He opened his door and peeked out into the hallway. There was no-one there and he smirked, looking straight ahead at Hermione's door.

Her door opened without much hassle, it wasn't creaky, which he was glad of. He saw Hermione's bed on the opposite wall; her room was symmetrical to his. He stood inside her door for less than a second and saw her turn over.

Good, she's awake. Draco thought. He made his way over to her bed and lay down. Hermione's hand came to his bare chest and they faced each other. She opened her eyes and saw that it was him. Draco was afraid for a split second that she was going to scream, but that didn't happen. Her eyes widened, and then filled with tears.

He moved closer to her as she begun to cry. He put his arms around her and gave her a comforting hug. They laid there for a while, hugging. Hermione began to swallow her tears.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Ron's faint voice calling out Hermione's name.

"Crap!" Draco mumbled. He dove under the covers and lay sideways at the end of her bed. Hermione sat up and looked wide-eyed at the door, Draco wasn't going to be able to hide there.

"Hermione?" Ron called again.

"Yeah?" She lay back down and pretended she had just woken up as Ron opened the door.

"I couldn't sleep." Ron said.

"You woke me up." She replied. Hermione felt a little finger touch her bare foot under the covers and tried like everything not to squeal. Ron made his way up to her bed and sat on the side. He looked into her eyes.

"You've been crying." He said. Hermione shook her head and looked at the embroidery on her sheets. "I was wondering how you were coping, with Malfoy staying at the palace as well." Ron paused. "Is... that what you were crying about?"

"No, Ron." She said. He looked at her, puzzled. Another set of tears came to Hermione's eyes.

"It was." Ron said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She was sitting up in bed. Hermione shook her head, but couldn't speak because of the tears. From under the bed, Hermione felt Draco running his fingers around her toes. She tried not to giggle.

Another knock came to the door.

"Hermione." It was Paul. Ron was so startled, he fell off the bed and the only thing that he could do was crawl under. Paul came in and saw her sitting up in bed.

"Hey Hermione." He said, walking up to the edge of the bed.

"Hey Paul." She said. He remained standing up on the side of the bed. There was silence for a second, and Hermione was surprised that Paul couldn't hear Ron or Draco breathing.

"Look, I'm really sorry for deserting you when they found you with Malfoy." He confessed. "I should have been there with you, like Ron was. I was... so confused." She smiled up at him.

"That's alright." She replied. He reached down with his arms and hugged her from her sitting position in bed.

"Hogwarts is the first school I've ever been to. I did not understand anything."

"I understand." Hermione smiled. "It's alright now."

"How are you with him here?" Paul paused. "Are you over it?"

"I'm fine." She said. Hermione could still feel Draco touching her foot.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Hermione said. Paul paused, wondering if he should pursue why she had been crying. "Goodnight Paul." She said.

"Goodnight." Paul made his way to the door and exited. Hermione rolled her eyes as she saw Ron crawling out from under her bed.

"You right?" Ron asked. Hermione sniffed.

"I'll be fine." She said. "Good night Ron."

"Good night Hermione." He left; making sure that Paul had entered his room before he stepped out into the hallway. Hermione and Draco sighed in relief. He brought himself up again. Hermione smiled at him. She brought her arms around him in a hug.

Hermione grumbled a "Come in" and Draco dove under the covers once more. It was Princess AJ.

"Sorry, Were you asleep?" AJ asked.

"No, I wasn't. Come on in." Hermione said. AJ came up to the bed and sat, crossing her legs in front of her.

"It's so good to have another girl here. It's only ever been me and Paul, now me and Harry."

"How are you two?" Hermione asked.

"We're good. He's so sweet." AJ replied. Hermione smiled as she remembered the days when it was Harry Ron and she. "What about you? Have a boyfriend?" Hermione felt a strong connection with AJ. She almost confessed the whole confusing year to her. She was pulled back into reality when she felt Draco touch her foot under the covers again.

"Not really." Hermione replied. She looked over at the alarm clock next to her bed. It was 4:30 in the morning. AJ sighed.

"I'd better go back to bed." AJ said. "I'll talk to you in the morning."

"Good night" Hermione said as AJ left her room. Once he heard the door close, Draco grabbed Hermione's foot and pulled himself up. In the process, he pulled Hermione down from her sitting up position to lying down. She giggled as he came up next to her on his side with his elbow out, resting his head on his hand.

"You right?" He asked.

"I'll be fine." She replied. He quickly pecked her on the cheek before leaving her to a few more hours of sleep.


	10. The Ferret Attempt

Hermione made her way down to the palace kitchen. The events of the previous night were too much for her, and so she had slept in. It was well past midday and she was beginning to wonder where all of the others were. Even so, she was fine with the peace and quiet.

As she neared the kitchen, however, she began to hear AJ talking.

"Should we go and wake her up?" She asked.

"I don't know." Ron replied.

"Yeah, let's go jump on her." Hermione heard Draco say.

"Malfoy, you better know that Ron told me all about what happened at school last year and I want you to know that you are on very thin ice with the future king." Hermione didn't hear Draco reply, but she could feel his smirk.

"Ok then, we won't worry about it. She'll be fine sleeping. " AJ said after a bit.

"Yeah." Paul agreed.

Hermione had stopped just in front of the kitchen door and was listening to the conversation. She wasn't so sure that now was the best time to walk in. She turned around and began to walk around the palace.

~.~

"I'm going to go and just check on her, see if she's still asleep." AJ said. "You guys are fine to stay here. She might come straight to the kitchen for breakfast when she wakes up. But then again, she might get lost. I'll go searching. I'll be back."

"Wait, AJ, I'll come with you." Paul said. AJ stopped and waited for Paul to catch up to her before opening the door and making her way towards the bedrooms.

"Ok then." The other three boys said together. It was just Harry, Ron and Draco left in the room and tensions were getting high.

"Why did you have to go and do that anyway Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"Do what?" Draco asked innocently, but his smirk was very contradicting.

"You know what I mean Malfoy. Stop playing those games with me. Hermione. Why the heck?"

"Don't blame me mate." Draco said. Ron was sitting back and listening, he was greatly regretting not going after AJ and leaving Harry and Draco to fight.

"Why can't I blame you?" Harry asked. "I can blame you for almost anything I want. I know how twisted and evil you are."

"Apparently it's attractive."

"Shut up!" Harry yelled at him.

"You!" Draco yelled back.

~.~

Hermione had returned to the kitchen door and was once again listening into their conversation.

"You are so in trouble when I become king. You snake." Harry yelled.

"Hey, if Hermione wasn't such a ..."

"Don't you dare!" Harry yelled. He grabbed his wand and pointed it at Draco's throat. Draco padded his pockets, but couldn't seem to find his own wand.

"Yes, you would make a good ferret." Harry said.

"Hermione!" AJ yelled. Hermione quickly turned around to see AJ and Paul running up to her. "Good morning!"

"Good morning AJ!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I figured you would come straight to the kitchen. Did you have a good sleep-in?"

"Yes, I did."

"That's good." AJ said and pushed the kitchen door open. "Hey hey hey!" AJ tried to calm things down. All that she knew was that Harry had his wand pointed at Draco's neck and was looking very angry. Draco caught Hermione's eye in a look of desperation.

"Harry is about to turn Draco into a ferret." Ron explained. It was the first time he had spoken since AJ left.

"A ferret? That is the most random animal ever!" Paul said.

"Guys, I'm not allowed to have the animals in the house ok, and much less in the kitchen!" AJ said.

"So we can go outside?" Harry asked.

"No!" Don't turn Draco into a ferret, come on." She tried to reason with them, but Harry wasn't really paying attention.

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"Because, Harry, it's not right for the future king to do something like that."

"But..." Harry said.

"Can I do it?" Ron asked.

"Of course not Ron." AJ replied, shaking her head. Draco once again caught Hermione's eye as Harry lowered his wand and put it back in his pocket. Before Draco could say a word, Harry's fist came up and punched him square in the nose. The rest of the group heard the loud crack that came with only one thing, a broken nose. Harry and Ron tried really hard to hold back and control their laughter, but they were finding it rather hard. AJ and Paul immediately ran up to Draco and caught him before he fell backward. Hermione just stood there stunned, thinking why in the world she hadn't done that before.

"What the heck Harry? You broke his nose!!!" AJ exclaimed.

"I did didn't I?" Harry said through his rather large grin. AJ shook her head and sighed as she bent down to take a look at the damage.

~.~

Draco's nose had been fixed by the palace nurse and the teenagers were back together outside in the garden. They were walking towards the stables to go for a ride. Draco had the most annoyed look on his face and hadn't spoken since he came out from seeing the nurse. Hermione couldn't help but smile at his facial expression; she couldn't help it if she found him to be attractive, very attractive. Even AJ thought he looked a little cute.

They reached the stable and entered. There were about 15 horses there, each beautiful in its own way.

"Chocolate, Brownie, Princess, Charlotte, Epona and Black Night are the ones we'll ride on today. Charlotte is my horse, Epona is Pauls, and Harry's got Brownie. Hermione, you can ride Princess, Ron, Chocolate, and I believe Black Night will suit you very well Draco." The others giggled and Draco continued his glaring.

Once the horses were saddled and ready, they set out on the trail through the woods.

"The trail is only two horses wide. I'm with Harry, you guys can sort it out amongst yourselves." AJ explained. Draco rolled his eyes. As if any of the others even wanted to ride with him.

"I'll go with Draco." Hermione said. Harry looked back at her with surprise.

"Seriously?" He asked.

"Yeah." She replied.

"Really?" Paul asked. He was a little sad that she didn't want to ride with him.

"No." Draco said.

"What?" Hermione turned around.

"You just want to cheer me up by mocking me. I'm not going to have any of it." Inside Draco wined, he so wanted a ride with her, but this really wasn't the time.

"Draco, I was not..." Hermione tried to explain.

"Yes you were Hermione. I won't let you. You go with Paul."

"Fine, I will." Hermione exclaimed. She couldn't believe how impossible Draco was being. Paul was confused, she was going to ride with him, her boyfriend, but did she really want to? But then again, were they still going out?" After the incident, he had sort of abandoned her. The previous night she had forgiven him, but had she really? Paul was very, very confused.

"Sorry Ron." Hermione giggled. "Enjoy your ride!"

"Will do." Ron said through clenched teeth and a big fake smile. The group mounted their horses and set out on the trail. It wasn't long before they were fenced in by the trees. AJ had said that there was only room for two horses across, but it was really tight still. AJ and Harry were up the front talking, but the others couldn't hear what they were saying.

Behind them it was pretty much silent, besides the noises that the horses were making. Hermione and Paul were in the middle, with Ron and Draco behind them.

The whole ride went pretty much the same way. Hermione was thinking about what had happened. Draco had refused her to ride with him, why? She liked Paul, they were going out. At least, she thought they were. But Draco was Draco and that was that. She couldn't refuse his good looks.

Behind her, Black Night, the horse that Draco was riding, stepped on an unstable rock and buckled at the knees. Draco shouted with fright as he toppled over sideways and fell off the horse.

"Draco!!!" AJ and Hermione yelled out in unison. Fortunately, Draco got himself into the right landing position so that he did not break his arm. He rolled over on his back and then jumped up as quickly as he could so that the horse didn't stomp on him. Paul took immediate action and reared his horse before it got spooked. He tried to reach for Black Night's reigns, but he had reared, turned around and cantered back towards the stables.

"I'll catch him, see if he's alright, then turn him in." Paul yelled at the others before racing off after Black Night.

"OK." AJ yelled back, but she doubted that he heard her. "Paul's really good with catching horses and stuff. He'll get him. It'll be alright." She explained to the others. "Are you alright Draco?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, my shoulder hurts a tiny bit, I'm glad my arm's not broken."

"That was a cool landing technique you used there, I've never seen that before." AJ said.

"That wasn't planned..." Draco said.

"Sure looked like it!" AJ replied.

"Now what?" Ron asked after a moment of silence

"Umm...." AJ thought for a second. "Princess is the only one that will let you double up, even so, we're pushing it."

"That's alright; I'll walk back to the stables." Draco replied.

"No!" AJ said. "I won't let you, come on; we have so much more track to ride. Draco looked up at the person mounted on Princess, she was looking away. He groaned outwardly, but smirked inwardly as he made his way over to Hermione's horse and mounted.

Hermione took a deep breath in when she felt Draco's strong arms around her stomach. She didn't even seem to let the breath out again. After they had started up again, she heard him whisper in her ear.

"Are you going to breathe out?" He asked. Hermione tried to contain her fan girlish squeal. She pushed her mouth shut so that she was sure no saliva was going to escape. Her eyes widened and her exhale was more of a sigh. Draco snickered. This was the perfect time to ride with her. Hermione heard his snicker and jabbed her elbow into his stomach lightly. Draco barely felt it; he just snickered all the more.

AJ and Harry continued up the front, with Hermione and Draco on Princess following and Ron behind them. He wasn't bothered to catch up to them. In a way that Ron wouldn't be able to see, Draco was slightly kissing Hermione's ear. She was trying not to move too much and spook the horse, but it was rather difficult.

Up ahead, AJ and Harry slowed their horses down and a clearing opened in the forest. AJ led Harry around and they came head on towards Hermione and Draco.

"I guess we should go back now, Paul won't come back out. We'll go and find him." AJ suggested.

"Ok." Hermione agreed and she looked back at Draco and Ron to see them nodding their agreement. AJ stopped her horse and waited for Princess and Chocolate to carry Hermione, Draco and Ron out into the clearing before once again entering the trail.


	11. When You Can't Sleep

Hermione looked at herself in the mirror. She sighed. Even with her beautiful dress, hair straightened and makeup on, she didn't think she looked that pretty. It was almost time for her to go downstairs to the ball; she just wasn't quite ready yet. She sighed again and turned away from the mirror. Her high heels felt slightly uncomfortable on her feet, but she pushed on, heading towards her door and out into the hallway. She closed her door behind her and went towards the staircase.

"You look beautiful." Draco said from his bedroom door, just across the hall.

"Thank you Draco." She replied, smiling at him. She kept walking, however and didn't turn back until she reached the grand ballroom. It seemed that Draco had been following her the whole way. She didn't know just how close he'd been, but when she arrived, he was right behind her.

"Hermione! You look absolutely wonderful!" AJ exclaimed.

"AJ! You look stunning!" She returned. She looked around the room and saw Harry dancing with Ginny, Ron's younger sister. All of their families were attending. Hermione even saw Draco's parents standing in the corner. It seemed as though Draco saw them at the same time, because he made his way over to talk with his father. Paul came up from behind AJ and smiled at Hermione.

"Would the beautiful girl like to dance?" He asked. Hermione looked to the right and then to the left.

"Are you talking to me?" She asked.

"Oui madam!" Paul replied, extending a hand towards her. Hermione giggled at his random French and accepted his hand before following him to dance.

Hermione found the ball rather dull. She danced with Paul most of the time, when she wasn't dancing with him, she was talking with him along with AJ and harry. Ron seemed to be off somewhere else, probably being bothered by his mother. And Draco remained with his father the whole time.

Once the ball was over, she quietly made her way up to her room. She was tired, she had to admit. Having not gotten much sleep the night before, then the exciting events of the day, and the ball that evening, she was definitely worn out. Hermione made her way into her room and got ready for bed.

~.~

Hermione heard a knock on the door. It was almost an hour since she had gone to bed and she hadn't even started to fall asleep yet, she couldn't turn her brain off. She quickly sat up in bed. After the night before, she knew that it could be anyone.

"Come on in!" She called out towards the door. The door opened and AJ stepped in.

"Hey Hermione!!" AJ said.

"Hey AJ!" Hermione exclaimed. Personally, she was glad it wasn't one of the boys.

"I was just wondering if we could talk for a bit." AJ said.

"Yeah, sure thing, I wasn't going to get to sleep anytime soon anyway."

"Yeah, neither."

"So how are you and Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Well, we're good friends. To tell you the truth I picked him at random." AJ said.

"Really? You picked the future King, your husband? From random... out of those guys?" AJ laughed.

"Yeah, I guess I did!" There was a short pause before Hermione asked her next question.

"Have you kissed him yet?" She asked, it was time for the girl talk.

"No, no I haven't. It's sort of a family thing."

"Not kissing your future husband is a family thing?" Hermione asked. There was a pause before AJ answered. She was wondering whether or not to tell Hermione the full story. She decided to go for it though, Hermione was basically the only female friend that she really ever had, and she felt like talking with her about this.

"Yeah, it is... The family line wasn't always witches and wizards you know?" AJ began to explain. "There wasn't any married into the family either." Hermione was listening intently to what AJ was saying. "About a thousand years ago, there was a King, Howard, and he actually found out about the magical world. He found out about all of the witches and wizards and their magical schools and such. He kidnapped a witch, a very powerful one. I was never told what her name was. He ordered her to make him magical, and she did it. But, you know like in the fairytales, there was a curse attached. As he let the witch go, she yelled behind her what she had done. 'First kiss at the wedding altar, or the monarchy will falter, all the lands will then despair, for the queen shall not produce an heir' In other words, if you are not married to the one you're kissing, there will be no heir to the throne."

"Really?" Hermione was shocked.

"Yeah, so that's how it's been for the past thousand years."

"So when's the wedding then, when do you get to kiss him?" Hermione asked.

"It's the day after my 18th birthday. I have to be 18 to get married; it's legal anytime, since I had to make the decision within 30 days of my 16th birthday, but the tradition is to have it the day after the heir's 18th birthday."

"That's pretty cool, what a birthday present!! A husband!!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Yeah."

"So have you told Harry all of that?" Hermione asked.

"He knows the basic stuff. I didn't tell him everything."

"Interesting!" Hermione exclaimed. The two remained silent for a few seconds and Hermione yawned.

"I'd better go, it's probably getting late." AJ said.

"Okay then, I'll see you in the morning! Thank you for coming and talking to me!" Hermione said.

"That's alright. Thank you for listening to me; you don't know how much it means to me." AJ said.

"That's alright. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!" AJ said as she closed Hermione's bedroom door behind her and made her way back to her room.

Hermione laid back down into her bed and closed her eyes. She drifted off to sleep easily and didn't hear a single noise throughout the night.


	12. Husband and Wife

"Good morning Hermione!!" Paul exclaimed as Hermione walked into the kitchen the next morning. Hermione smiled.

"Good morning Paul!" She exclaimed back. Draco shot a dirty look in Paul's direction, Harry and Ron were sitting on the other side of the table, talking about the past school year. "Where's AJ?" Hermione asked after looking around the room.

"She's sleeping in, it's her turn." Harry replied.

"We're taking turns now?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, yesterday it was you, today it's AJ, and tomorrow it's Paul etc." Harry replied jokingly.

"Apparently." Paul said. Hermione giggled and shook her head. She sat down on one of the bar stools and turned around to face the table, thus she would be at the head. She sighed and looked at the group. Harry and Ron had continued their conversation, and Draco was behind Paul, both of them looking up at her, sighing inside. Hermione rolled her eyes and hopped off the stool.

"I'm going to go and see if she is awake." She said and started to make her way to the door.

"Ok then." Paul said as she opened the kitchen door and left the room.

Hermione made her way up all of the long flights of stairs back to the bedrooms. AJ's was the biggest one at the end of the hall, right across from Harry's room. She slowly approached and knocked on the door. After waiting for what she thought was long enough and not hearing any noise, she slowly and quietly opened the door to see if AJ was still in bed.

The door slowly opened; inch by inch Hermione was grateful that the door wasn't making any noise. She got it open enough to stick her head through and her breath caught. AJ's sheets and blankets were all over the floor, the goose feather pillows had busted and the feathers were strewn around the room. Hermione looked over towards the ensuite and saw that the door was open, unoccupied. She looked back over at the bed and saw, barely, a little note on the torn mattress. She slowly and carefully walked over to the bed and picked up the note.

Hermione didn't even read it, she didn't have to. The vectors of the page, and her own curiosity drew her attention towards the signature on the bottom. **Lord **_Voldemort_**. **Her breath caught again, and, without thinking, she ran back down to the kitchen, note in hand, leaving AJ's bedroom door open.

Hermione ran all of the way down to the kitchen, but stopped short just before the door. She breathed deeply and tried to straighten out her thoughts and figure out what to say to the guys.

~.~

The boys in the kitchen heard running feet and then suddenly nothing just on the other side of the kitchen door. They all stood up and looked over at the door in curiosity and a few seconds later the door opened with a troubled Hermione on the other side. She looked over at all of the boys standing there looking at her and her breath was caught once again, she couldn't explain.

"AJ's been kidnapped!" She managed to say, and she held the note up.

"What?" The guys replied in unison, even so, they didn't need her to repeat, they could tell by the terrified expression on her face what had happened.

Harry took off, bolting out the door and straight up to AJ's room to see if Hermione was telling the truth. Paul took off after him, and Ron behind Paul. Draco looked around the room and saw that he was the last boy to leave. He looked at Hermione and saw her roll her eyes before running after the other three. He just shrugged his shoulders and followed suit, at a slower pace.

~.~

The boys looked around AJ's room, the clothes, sheets, blankets and feathers everywhere. Hermione ran in behind them and Draco stood leaning on the door.

"Voldemort?" Ron's tone of voice suggested that his single word was a question.

"Yep." Hermione said. She held out the note to read to the others.

"Anastasia Jacqueline Damir,

Gone, isn't she?

She's waiting, so is the priest,

To marry her and her lucky rescuer.

And with that, comes the kiss to seal the kingdom's fate.

-Lord Voldemort."

The boys were still looking around the room, at the mess. Draco rolled his eyes at Voldemort's attempt at writing a ransom note. There was a long silence as Harry boiled and the others were standing there, thinking about what on earth they could do.

"I'm going to go tell their Highnesses, they deserve to know." Hermione said, and left them still in their silence.

~.~

"They were in Parliament, I told the butler." Hermione said as she rounded the corner. She looked at Draco. He was looking very suspicious, but trying to hide it. Her head was working and her jaw dropped. She ran the two steps over to AJ's open bedroom door and found that the other boys were no longer in there. She turned back around to Draco, her hair flinging around with her head and looked at him with the angriest look she had.

She turned around and walked down the hall towards everyone else's rooms. She reached Paul's bedroom door and heard the three guys yelling from inside. She reached out and touched the handle, but immediately pulled her hand back. The handle was frozen.

"The windows are frozen shut as well." Draco said from behind her. Hermione turned around and faced him.

"You foul loathsome..." She began.

"Evil little cockroach, I know, but you love it." He smirked at her, inches from her face. Her eyes narrowed almost to closing. She tried as hard as she could just to move the current crisis situation in front of her emotions on her priority list. "Just get ready to call me 'Your Majesty'" Draco said.

"What?" Hermione exclaimed.

"You can't save her." He pointed out. Hermione's jaw dropped at the realisation of his evil scheme. When Draco saw this, he just smirked all the more.

Hermione pulled her wand out and Draco ducked out of the way, but that wasn't what was on her mind. She turned around and faced the door again. She pointed the wand at the doorknob and recited the spell to thaw out the doorknob.

"That's not going to work." He said.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Because, I have to do it." Draco replied. Hermione grumbled and turned around. She couldn't let the deatheaters win! And she definitely couldn't let Draco marry AJ! She sighed, it looked to Draco like she had given up.

"Lead the way." She said. Draco smiled and turned around, strutting down the hallway as if he knew he had won. Hermione moved fast. She ran forward to him and grabbed him around the neck, her wand shoving into his back. He gasped and yelped in pain. It had only barely penetrated his skin, but it still hurt.

"Let them out, or you're dead." She said in his ear.

"If I die, they'll never get out, and you would be very lonely." He replied. Hermione thought for a second, and then rephrased her sentence.

"Let them out, or you're paralysed, and you can't save her." She said.

"You want me bad." Draco teased. Hermione shoved her wand a little farther into his back. Draco inhaled and collapsed, he hadn't been paralysed yet, the pain was just too much.

"I'm going to be your future King." He said sparingly.

"Malfoy!" She screamed. She tried to push away the tears; she couldn't hurt him like this.

"Yes dear?" He asked. She yelled at him, she was realising that it wasn't going to work. She pushed a little harder and suddenly Paul's bedroom door opened. Hermione released her pressure and collapsed on the floor next to Draco. Draco got up and began running down the hallway.

"I knew you couldn't do it." He yelled behind him. He continued running down the stairs and out of the palace. Hermione couldn't help it anymore, she broke down and cried.

A few moments passed before Hermione realised that the boys weren't coming out of Paul's room. She could still hear them as if the door was still locked. She quickly stood up and ran over to the door.

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed. Just inside the door, Ron, Harry and Paul were frozen to the floor. Hermione screamed again, 'that's why Draco opened the door so easily' she thought.

"Malfoy is evil!" Harry yelled. Hermione couldn't think of what to do. Draco was undoubtedly going to marry Princess AJ and then become King, otherwise there will be no more monarchy. And, here, the people who could save them were frozen to the floor!

Hermione leaned against the door frame and slid down it till she was sitting on the floor in front of the boys.

"Can't you..." Paul begun, but he saw Hermione shake her head.

"Malfoy made it so that he was the only one that can undo the spell." Hermione replied. The four of them sat in silence and took in the truth that evil had officially won.

~.~

Minutes later, the group heard a scream from down the hallway. Hermione stood up and ran to AJ's room. AJ's mother and father had entered the room and were realising what had happened.

"Your Majesties, it was Voldemort." Hermione explained. "He's kidnapped her, and Draco Malfoy knew about it, and now he's going to marry her so that he becomes King!"

"Where are the other boys?" the King asked.

"They're down here, please come!" Hermione exclaimed and exited AJ's room. They both followed her to Paul's room and saw the awful predicament.

"Your Majesty, do you know how to get us out of this?" Paul asked.

"Malfoy made it so that only he could undo it." Hermione explained.

"No problem, I know the spell." The King answered before lifting his wand and pointing it at the boys, reciting the necessary spell to thaw the boy's feet. Paul and Ron immediately started walking around the room; however, Harry remained where he was. The King once again pointed his wand at Harry and recited the spell. Again, nothing happened. Harry realised that he wasn't going to be able to get out of the palace to save his fiancé, the Princess.

"I... can't get you." The King said.

"You guys go rescue her." Harry said.

"But Harry, you won't be able to be King!" Hermione said.

"It's alright. King Ron or King Paul is still much better than King Draco; Go!" He said. Hermione, Ron and Paul looked back at Harry and the King and Queen before leaving the room. They ran all of the way down and out of the palace.

As soon as they exited the palace, they were literally caught up in a storm. They were magically transported up high in the mountains, which was obviously where Voldemort was holding AJ. When they were let down, they continued running up to the top. They reached it quickly and saw AJ and Draco at the Altar, the Priest between them. AJ was chained to the Priest, and to a large boulder. She was crying and screaming, anything that she could do to stop what was happening, but it wasn't working.

"Ahh, some more witnesses." Hermione and the boys heard Voldemort say. Suddenly, the group was grabbed from behind. Each of them was being held by a deatheater so that they wouldn't interfere with the ceremony. They started screaming and trying to pull out of the deatheater's grip, but it wasn't easy. Ron stepped on the deatheater's foot and it screamed, but didn't let go.

Hermione and Paul followed suit and got just enough leverage to slip out one arm. Hermione turned and kicked the deatheater where the sun don't shine, and Paul flipped him over his head.

"Draco Malfoy, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife..." The Priest was on his closing statements and Draco was getting anxious to get it over with. Suddenly, Hermione, free of the deatheater, ran her hardest towards Draco and AJ. She ducked hard as she heard a hex curse whiz by her. Thankfully it missed, but it was heading straight for AJ! AJ screamed as she saw the curse hurl towards her. Ron, now free of the deatheater's grasp, pulled out his wand and narrowly saved AJ from the hex.

AJ was hysteric. Between the hex almost hitting her and Draco now saying those two eternal words, she couldn't speak. Suddenly, Hermione was there with them. Not knowing what to do, she crash-tackled Draco, knocking him to the ground. Hermione landed on top of him, and not knowing what to do to keep him from getting back up, she reached over and kissed him. Thankfully, he didn't protest, but enjoyed the kiss. There was nothing he could do really, she had him pinned.

Ron was too busy killing deatheaters to realise what was going on. Paul, however, ran straight towards the altar. He had his eyes set on AJ. He felt hexes pass him left and right, narrowly missing him, but it didn't deter him, he kept moving forward as fast as he could. He finally reached AJ, taking her hand, he quickly said "I do."

"Anastasia Damir, do you take this man, Paul Sage, to be your lawfully wedded husband..." The priest changed his mind.

"I do!" AJ screamed at the top of her lungs. Suddenly, Paul and AJ turned around. Hermione jumped off Draco and Ron turned around to face Voldemort. Voldemort was screaming at the top of his lungs, he was angry. The noise broke the chains that held AJ where she was. AJ stared at Voldemort, scared to death. Paul wasted no time. The priest had pronounced them husband and wife, but they hadn't yet kissed to seal the deal. Quickly, he grabbed AJ's arm and pulled her around to him.

AJ wasn't sure what happened, she almost tried to get away from him. When she realised that it was Paul trying to save the world, she gladly accepted his kiss. As they kissed, Ron, Hermione and Draco, fell to the ground from the impact of Voldemort's scream. One by one, the deatheaters began apparating into thin air. Voldemort stopped yelling and stared at the newlywed couple.

"Avada Kadavra" Voldemort said, his wand pointed at the two of them, still mid-kiss, before apparating himself. Hermione and Ron saw him do this and sprung to their feet.

"No!!!" They both yelled in slow motion. They moved towards AJ and Paul who were oblivious to the deathly curse. Hermione was positioned behind Paul, without thinking, she crash-tackled him. In the process, Paul fell on top of AJ, Hermione on top of him and Ron barely managed to escape the curse by landing on top of her. Standing near them, the unsuspecting priest looked up, barely seeing the curse before it hit him straight on, sending him flying back, but he didn't feel a thing. He died on impact.

Ron, being on top of the other three, found that he wasn't balanced and fell head-first onto the grass. Hermione rolled off the other way and looked over towards Draco. AJ and Paul finally stopped kissing, Paul getting off of AJ and helping her up.

"Malfoy you idiot." Ron said. Hermione didn't pay attention to Ron, instead, she ran straight over to Draco and hugged him, felling his broad shoulders bringing her some sort of safety.

"Hermione..." Paul started. She quickly realised what she was doing and turned around so that her back was directly facing malfoy.

"Paul..." Hermione said. "Or... your majesty." She corrected herself. Paul sighed and looked over at AJ, smiling.

"Yeah..." He said slowly. "I'm so sorry for everything that I did to make your life miserable after..." He made a quick angry glance behind her.

"Paul, you don't have to apologise, you already did. I forgave you."

"You guys don't seem to notice the obvious criminal behind you." Ron cut in.

"Draco. How could you do this, betray your friends?" AJ asked. "We are going back to the palace now, and I am sure that my parents will not accept what you have done." Draco looked at the ground. Ron's angry glare remained towards him.

~.~

"I can't believe the whole summer went buy so quickly." Ron said.

"I know!" AJ exclaimed. "Neither can I."

"So much has happened." Harry recalled. After the group had gotten back from the 'wedding', the King and Queen forced Draco to un-freeze Harry before locking him in the dungeons.

"I'm sorry, once again Harry." Paul said.

"Hey, if it was meant to be, than it was meant to be. Malfoy isn't the future king, and that's the whole point." Harry said.

"I hope you guys have a great year at school. Last year, have fun." AJ said.

"Yeah, I've got to catch up with so many people. I wonder how Ginny's doing." Harry said. Hermione and Ron shook their heads. "What? I haven't seen her since the ball!" he exclaimed, but the others ignored him and headed out the doors of the palace and towards the limo. Just before she got into the car, Hermione stopped.

"Wait a second." She said. "I think I forgot something. You guys go on without me, I'll get there in time to catch the train."

"Are you sure?" Ron said.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll see you guys there."

"Ok then, don't be late." Harry told her before she ran back inside the doors of the palace. AJ and Paul remained outside to say goodbye to the boys.

Once Hermione got inside, she peaked out the window to make sure that the others weren't coming straight away. When she saw that this wasn't the case, she quickly made her way down the hallway to the staircase. She wound her way down the stairs till she came to the dungeons. She had frequently come to visit Draco when no-one was looking. This time she was planning to bust him out.

"Draco, time to go." She called to him as she came to the door of his cell. Draco smirked through the bars.

"Potter's going to be ticked." Draco said.

"They can't do anything. They can tell Dumbledore all they want, but he's not going to believe it. Besides, the King and Queen kept the whole thing quiet anyway." Hermione replied. She magically opened the cell door for him and he stepped out, embracing her with a kiss.

"I love you." He whispered in her ear. Hermione smiled. This was the time that she could put her emotions before the circumstance.

"I love you two." She replied. The two apparated themselves straight to platform 9 ¾ just as the train was arriving at the station. Hermione turned and begun walking towards her Gryffindor friends. She took a couple steps before stopping and turning back towards Draco. She smiled at him as he was to her. Inconspicuously, she blew him a kiss before turning back around and walking away.


End file.
